Washington, DC -- Congressman Eliot Engel (D-NY-17) today demanded the repeal of the “Goldstone Commission” report by the United Nations and urged opposition to unilateral recognition of a Palestinian state by the world body.  Rep. Engel spoke at a morning meeting with United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon and at a House Foreign Affairs Committee hearing with United States U.N. Ambassador Susan Rice.

“I made it perfectly clear to both Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon and to Ambassador Rice that the Goldstone Report must be repudiated by the United Nations.  The House overwhelmingly rejected the report right after it was adopted by the U.N. Human Rights Council and by the General Assembly.  I have believed all along that this report was a sham, and I said so publicly back in September 2009," said Rep. Engel.   

The U.N.'s “Goldstone Commission” report claimed that Israel committed human rights abuses during the Gaza conflict in 2008-09.  Mr. Goldstone questioned those findings in an opinion article published in The Washington Post last week. 

Congressman Engel’s speech on the House floor calling for the repeal can be viewed here - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TEoHv9hlnNA.  His questioning of Ambassador Rice can be viewed here - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pNb5VwGyWvE.

 

Last night, Rep. Engel spoke on the floor of the House of Representatives and made the following statement about the Goldstone Commission Report:

 

THE GOLDSTONE REPORT IS A LIE

(House of Representatives - April 06, 2011)

 

  (Mr. ENGEL asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)

   Mr. ENGEL. Mr. Speaker, about a year ago, the United Nations passed the infamous Goldstone Report. Thankfully, this Congress on the floor of the House had a debate, and we rejected the Goldstone Report.

   Well, guess what happened last week? Judge Goldstone said that his report was erroneous. What did the Goldstone Report say? The Goldstone Report said that Israel deliberately targeted civilians in Gaza.

   That has now been proven not to be true. Of course, the people in the U.N. who bash Israel all the time will continue to pretend that Judge Goldstone didn't repudiate his own report, but the fact of the matter is he did.

   The truth is that it is Hamas, the terrorist group, that took over the Gaza Strip. They target Israeli civilians all the time. Israel tries to protect its own citizens in going and destroying the terrorist nests, but the terrorists of Hamas build their nests and their rockets and their munitions in heavily populated areas. So, if civilians die, it is their fault.

   The Goldstone Report is a lie. The United Nations should kill it once and for all, and we should be leading the way.

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